Lakers fan Jeannette Hernandez, lays a flower at the statue of the late Laker announcer Chick Hearn for Lakers' owner Jerry Buss at the Staples Center in downtown Los Angeles on Monday. RICHARD VOGEL, AP

EL SEGUNDO – The admiration and love for one of sports' most influential owners hit the Internet as soon as the news broke. Family, friends, NBA players, a world-class boxer, the Los Angeles mayor, a host of celebrities – almost everyone that Jerry Buss touched has something to say about the Lakers owner who died Monday.

"This is a great loss for the Laker Nation – 1st the legendary Chick Hearn and now my 2nd dad, the beloved Dr. Jerry Buss. I LOVE you Dr. Buss!" Magic Johnson posted on his Twitter account.

Magic didn't stop there.

"All Dr. Buss ever wanted to do was win and he did. Dr. Buss won 10 Championships – 5 with me as a player and 5 with me as his partner."

Magic owned a percentage of the Lakers for 10 years before selling his shares and investing in the Dodgers. Even though Magic was not a part of the Lakers, he kept close tabs on the team and visited Buss in recent months.

"I will always remember Dr. Buss' big smile, his love for the Lakers, for poker & billiards, for the City of LA and for beautiful women," Magic tweeted.

Longtime spokesman Bob Steiner said Buss had a different way of looking at things than people raised in basketball.

"If you went to him with something (an idea) you had to be prepared," Steiner said to the media Monday at the Lakers training facility.

Kobe Bryant said he hopes Lakers fans remember Buss' legacy, which includes 10 NBA championships in 16 seasons. The Lakers won five titles in the 1980s and five more in the 2000s.

"I hope L.A. understands everything that he has accomplished in a very competitive sport with some very, very competitive teams," Bryant said in a radio interview Monday. "(Winning 10 titles) that's ridiculous .... It's absolutely silly."

Derek Fisher took to Twitter to express his sadness over Buss' death. Fisher spent his first eight NBA seasons with the Lakers, winning three NBA titles, but signed with Golden State as a free agent in 2004.

When his daughter was diagnosed with eye cancer, Fisher was granted his release form the Utah Jazz and Buss re-signed the point guard in 2007.

"He forever changed my life. May he rest in peace and my prayers are with his family that he loved so much," Fisher wrote in a statement on Twitter.

NBA commissioner David Stern said the league lost a "visionary owner whose influence on our league is incalculable and will be felt for decades to come."

Clippers owner Donald Sterling also described Buss as a visionary, someone he considers a friend and winner.

"Our city will miss him, our league will miss him and the Sterling family will truly miss him," Sterling said in a statement.

Fellow owner, Mark Cuban of the Dallas Mavericks, said Buss had an "enormous impact on me" with his support.

"Thank you Dr. Buss for putting together some of the most soulful and exciting basketball the world will ever see," Cuban wrote on Twitter. "We're gonna miss you."

Several former players joined in expressing their sadness with Buss' death. Although Buss battled cancer for the past 18 months, the cause of death has been listed as kidney failure.

"I'm deeply saddened over the loss of the great Dr. Jerry Buss. He was a dear friend, keen mentor and brilliant businessman," Shaquille O'Neal said in a statement.

"He'll always be remembered for his dedication in bringing the best to the purple and gold and I'm proud to have been part of his honorable legacy. My heart and prayers go out to the Buss family and friends. Dr. Buss will be deeply missed by this big man."

Sasha Vujacic, who played seven seasons for the Lakers, said on Facebook that he was thankful of have met Buss.

"I will always remember him as the best owner any team could ask for," Vujacic said. "I am saddened to learn the news of his passing -- he left us much too soon. My prayers go out to his family and I pray that he may rest in peace. He will live on forever in my heart."

Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa also released a statement calling Buss a "cornerstone of the Los Angeles sports community" whose name will be synonymous with the Lakers.

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